[time-nuts] PI Zero W LED Desktop Clock with 10ths of Seconds / NTP disciplined
I just finished an LED clock kit that can be found on hackaday.io by Nick Sayer. Below is a link to a couple of one take videos <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAXFDt3PBJg> I made of the clock. It's a nice piece of eye candy. I haven't see an LED clock kit like this that uses a lite distribution of Linux where you have a server for the clock running NTP. The code that runs the clock is a C program that you compile and run when the OS boots up. It's nice that the PI Zero W is wireless for the clock... where it looks like a regular desk clock, but for the time-nut you can ssh in and check things out and look at loopstats etc...an NTP driven desk clock with 10ths of seconds. YouTube Video <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAXFDt3PBJg>: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAXFDt3PBJg Pictures <http://www.nc7j.com/pa/main.php?cmd=album=NG7M%2FRaspberry+PI%2FPI+Zero+W%2FDesktop+NTP+Clock> : http://www.nc7j.com/pa/main.php?cmd=album=NG7 M%2FRaspberry+PI%2FPI+Zero+W%2FDesktop+NTP+Clock I have no connection to the creator of the project or reason to give the project a plug other than I had fun making the simple kit and setting up Raspbian Lite to drive the PI Zero W., The creator of the kit is Nick Sayer on hackaday.io <https://hackaday.io/project/20156-raspberry-pi-zero-w-desk-clock>, I suspect he might get a few more looks at this project now: https://hackaday.io/project/20156-raspberry-pi-zero-w-desk-clock Enjoy, Max NG7M -- M. George ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] Trimble GPS board
Sorry, one more eBay link using this Trimble unit: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Trimble-GPS-Receiver-GPSDO-10MHz-1PPS-GPS-Disciplined-Clock-/18173438?hash=item2a52ccb37e Is that the bg7tbl version? Not sure what the serial connection gives you unless it's al'a BG7TBL? mg On Sun, Aug 16, 2015 at 3:36 PM, M. George m.matthew.geo...@gmail.com wrote: Hi, I poked around and found the EEVblog thread below... BG7TBL is using this board in one of his GPSDO units he sells on eBay. Look through the whole thread, you will see pictures of the GPSDO that is using this board / OCXO: http://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/bg7tbl-gpsdo-master-reference/ And yet another eBay seller that is offering this board, I have seen this quite a bit in the past, but at $99 I didn't get excited: http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/301124758583?item=301124758583vectorid=229466rmvSB=true And another $119 complete with the patch coax to SMA connectors and it shows the 6v power connection input: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Trimble-GPS-Receiver-GPSDO-10MHz-1PPS-GPS-Disciplined-Clock-/18173438?hash=item2a52ccb37e mg NG7M On Sun, Aug 16, 2015 at 1:25 PM, Bob Camp kb...@n1k.org wrote: Hi I think you will find that on the part you are looking at: TPN = Trimble Part Number 57964-15 = Trimble’s part number on the module SEC CODE = probably more relevant to the module that the OCXO info Date Code (on OCXO) 0826 = it was made sometime around the middle of 2008 One would *guess* that it is a more modern version of the TBolt. Bob On Aug 16, 2015, at 10:52 AM, Bob Benward rbenw...@verizon.net wrote: Hi all, Does anyone have any information or experience with this small Trimble GPSDO? There doesn't seem to be any associated model number other than the model of the OCXO (63090). I am looking for software, command codes, or hookup schematics, can anyone help? http://www.ebay.com/itm/141734507722?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 http://www.ebay.com/itm/141734507722?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649ssPageNam e=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Thanks, Bob ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. -- M. George -- M. George ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] Trimble GPS board
Hi, I poked around and found the EEVblog thread below... BG7TBL is using this board in one of his GPSDO units he sells on eBay. Look through the whole thread, you will see pictures of the GPSDO that is using this board / OCXO: http://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/bg7tbl-gpsdo-master-reference/ And yet another eBay seller that is offering this board, I have seen this quite a bit in the past, but at $99 I didn't get excited: http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/301124758583?item=301124758583vectorid=229466rmvSB=true And another $119 complete with the patch coax to SMA connectors and it shows the 6v power connection input: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Trimble-GPS-Receiver-GPSDO-10MHz-1PPS-GPS-Disciplined-Clock-/18173438?hash=item2a52ccb37e mg NG7M On Sun, Aug 16, 2015 at 1:25 PM, Bob Camp kb...@n1k.org wrote: Hi I think you will find that on the part you are looking at: TPN = Trimble Part Number 57964-15 = Trimble’s part number on the module SEC CODE = probably more relevant to the module that the OCXO info Date Code (on OCXO) 0826 = it was made sometime around the middle of 2008 One would *guess* that it is a more modern version of the TBolt. Bob On Aug 16, 2015, at 10:52 AM, Bob Benward rbenw...@verizon.net wrote: Hi all, Does anyone have any information or experience with this small Trimble GPSDO? There doesn't seem to be any associated model number other than the model of the OCXO (63090). I am looking for software, command codes, or hookup schematics, can anyone help? http://www.ebay.com/itm/141734507722?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 http://www.ebay.com/itm/141734507722?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649ssPageNam e=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Thanks, Bob ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. -- M. George ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] Thunderbolt serial question
Hi Chris, it's a standard serial cable. Here is a good FAQ on the tbolt at leapsecond: http://www.leapsecond.com/tbolt-faq.htm mg NG7M On Sun, Jul 26, 2015 at 10:47 AM, Chris Waldrup kd4...@gmail.com wrote: Hi, My Datum Starloc recently died after 12 years in service so I am replacing it with a Trimble Thunderbolt. The Starloc used a DB9 female to female null modem cable but I noticed a minute ago when getting ready to connect the Thubderbolt to my laptop that the Thunderbolt has a female DB9 connector. So the question is do I need a gender changer in order to use my existing null modem cable, or does the thunderbolt use a standard M-F serial cable? Thanks. Chris KD4PBJ — Sent from Mailbox ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. -- M. George ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
[time-nuts] TBolt 10 MHz output ~1.7v rms / HP 8656B FG
I picked up an HP 8656B from the usual place and have been cleaning it up... got around to testing the output which looks good on a cheap frequency counter etc... I'm wanting to use the 10 MHz output from my TBolt for the reference input on the HP 8656B and my Elecraft K3. So I started digging around in the manuals I can find on the internet, including KO4BB's cool manual stash. I'm not finding the specs on the input for the reference on the 8656B. I found an older reference for the 8646A that said to keep the input rms voltage between .2 and .4 volts, which scared me, because I had already hooked up the Tbolt direct. If this is correct, then .2 vrms - .4 vrms is around +2 dbm. The direct output on the TBolt to my scope is showing ~1.7 vrms which is close to +17 dbm. Yikes, I had that hooked up to the 8656B for a while... I hope I didn't screw anything up. I have a K3 with the EXREF board hooked up direct to the TBolt and it's happy as a clam with the 1.7 vrms input. Which is a tad bit high for the Elecraft docs which shows a nominal level of +4 dBm to +16 dBm. I'm assuming the 1.7 vrms is falling in to the 'nominal' range. I'm not finding dire warnings about hooking the TBolt 10 MHz output direct to a K3EXREF or an HP FG... I don't have a frequency counter that takes an external reference (yet), so it's hard to know if the HP 8656B is using the external reference. Again, I can't find much in the manuals to validate the external input, other than using a FC with the same reference input. Any input or tutoring would be helpful. Are others just adding resistance in line with the TBolt output to drop voltage? I tried a 50 ohm resistor and it dropped from 1.7 to just under 1v rms on the scope. Thanks Max NG7M -- M. George ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
[time-nuts] Trimble L1/L2 GPS Antenna PN: 27947-00
Hello, I snagged a Trimble GPS 27947-00 on the usual auction site awhile back... I hope I didn't snag it from other time-nuts that were bidding... Anyway, it showed up today and it cleaned up really nice. I couldn't help 'not' opening it up to take a peek... see the pictures here: Trimble L1/L2 GPS Antenna 27947-00 http://www.nc7j.com/downloads/NG7M/Time-Nuts/Trimble%2027947-00%20GPS%20L1%20L2%20Antenna/ I can't find hardly anything at all on this part number... I looked at KO4BB's manual pages trying to find something and gave it my best Google shot. Is there a common model number that I'm missing? What convinced me to go after a better antenna were comments from Bob and others and I think I got a good deal on this. Was it a good find... and are time-nuts using these with the Trimble ground plane in permanent installs with the ground plane attached. (sorry for my ignorance here, but I'm not finding too much based on my searching around and I'm a newbie time-nut) I don't have anything that would use the L2 frequencies yet... or maybe ever, but it's amazing how well this thing is built. I'm interested to see the difference it will show compared to my $30 bullet. Any insight would be helpful... mount suggestions... etc... over kill? Max NG7M -- M. George ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] Raspberry Pi tweaks and custom kernel, was RE: PPS for NTP Server - How Close Is Good Enough?
Web: http://www.satsignal.eu Email: david-tay...@blueyonder.co.uk ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. -- M. George ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] PPS for NTP Server - How Close Is Good Enough?
Hal, what stopped me from going down the BBB path was the reports of RF noise, they supposedly create a lot of noise. Not acceptable in an HF environment. Google around about the RF noise with the BBB. mg NG7M On Sat, Jun 13, 2015 at 12:02 AM, Hal Murray hmur...@megapathdsl.net wrote: eds_equipm...@verizon.net said: Is it possible to modify the kernel so the USB is polled more often, and would that significantly reduce the jitter? Modifying the kernel may not be enough if the timing parameters are in the microcode for the USB device. Whether any improvement is significant probably depends upon your goals. It's unlikely to become a great NTP server. If I wanted a good low power NTP server, I'd probably start with a BeagleBone Black. I haven't seen a low cost no-assembly-required GPS board for the BBB (There is at least one GPS board for the BBB, but it includes a cell phone modem which doubles the cost.) I'd probably try the GPS breakout board from SparkFun. It should take 5 wires: power, ground, trans, recv, and PPS. (and then the appropriate software hacking) -- These are my opinions. I hate spam. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. -- M. George ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] PPS for NTP Server - How Close Is Good Enough?
Several time-nuts have asked about my setup, here are some details of what I changed in the kernel and in the NTP build... Make sure and use the default config for the Pi 2 CPU when setting up .config for the Linux kernel. Make sure you are actually seeing your new kernel after you copy it to the /boot directory... name it kernel7.img if you dont' override the file name in config.txt. Also make sure dynamic modules are working. Here are details about the Linux kernel I'm currently using: Over clocked params in /boot/config.txt: #uncomment to overclock the arm. 700 MHz is the default. arm_freq=900 core_freq=500 sdram_freq=500 over_voltage=3 force_turbo=1 use force_turbo, I don't think the overclock really did anything. I do have a very good 5v power supply and I'm not using a wall wart USB power supply. Here are the contents of my /boot/cmdline.txt: dwc_otg.lpm_enable=0 console=tty1 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rootfstype=ext4 elevator=deadline rootwait smsc95xx.turbo_mode=0 Use the smsc95xx option to drop the latency on the network interface. Before building the kernel, in menu_config, in kernel options, set the timer frequency to 1000HZ. In CPU Power Management CPU Frequency scaling, set the default CPUFreq governor to 'performance'. I'm using this kernel code: Linux raspi2 3.18.14-v7+ #6 SMP Sun May 31 22:32:33 MDT 2015 armv7l GNU/Linux When you compile NTP, after running .configure, manually edit config.h and set DEFAULT_HZ to 1000 and then compile NTP. On the Pi 2, it can handle 4000 interrupts per second, I'm not sure how the previous Pi versions performed on interrupts. Google around and see what else you can find for a low latency raspberry pi configuration. Here is my ntpq -crv output as of the time I wrote this email: associd=0 status=0419 leap_none, sync_uhf_radio, 1 event, leap_armed, version=ntpd 4.3.37@1.2483-o Thu Jun 11 00:12:07 UTC 2015 (1), processor=armv7l, system=Linux/3.18.14-v7+, leap=00, stratum=1, precision=-19, rootdelay=0.000, rootdisp=1.075, refid=GPS, reftime=d9241692.3770a686 Thu, Jun 11 2015 8:15:46.216, clock=d9241697.6570084f Thu, Jun 11 2015 8:15:51.396, peer=6887, tc=4, mintc=3, offset=-0.000472, frequency=-7.870, sys_jitter=0.001907, clk_jitter=0.002, clk_wander=0.000, tai=35, leapsec=20150701, expire=20151228 So the offset at the moment was 472ns. But again, the sys_jitter has never been lower that I have seen, than 1.907 us. On Sat, Jun 13, 2015 at 11:14 AM, M. George m.matthew.geo...@gmail.com wrote: Hal, what stopped me from going down the BBB path was the reports of RF noise, they supposedly create a lot of noise. Not acceptable in an HF environment. Google around about the RF noise with the BBB. mg NG7M On Sat, Jun 13, 2015 at 12:02 AM, Hal Murray hmur...@megapathdsl.net wrote: eds_equipm...@verizon.net said: Is it possible to modify the kernel so the USB is polled more often, and would that significantly reduce the jitter? Modifying the kernel may not be enough if the timing parameters are in the microcode for the USB device. Whether any improvement is significant probably depends upon your goals. It's unlikely to become a great NTP server. If I wanted a good low power NTP server, I'd probably start with a BeagleBone Black. I haven't seen a low cost no-assembly-required GPS board for the BBB (There is at least one GPS board for the BBB, but it includes a cell phone modem which doubles the cost.) I'd probably try the GPS breakout board from SparkFun. It should take 5 wires: power, ground, trans, recv, and PPS. (and then the appropriate software hacking) -- These are my opinions. I hate spam. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. -- M. George -- M. George ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] PPS for NTP Server - How Close Is Good Enough?
Hi Bob, yes I'm including several other sources and usually about 3 are getting included in the discipline of the local clock. Here is my ntpq -pcrl output at the time I wrote this message. pi@raspi2 ~ $ ntpq -pcrl remote refid st t when poll reach delay offset jitter == LOCAL(0).LOCL. 10 l 20h 6400.0000.000 0.000 oGPS_ONCORE(0) .GPS.0 l 13 16 3770.0000.000 0.002 +time-c.timefreq .ACTS. 1 u2 64 377 21.373 -0.344 0.504 +utcnist2.colora .ACTS. 1 u3 64 377 22.2620.144 1.720 +india.colorado. .NIST. 1 u 48 64 377 22.2360.188 0.122 -time-a.timefreq .ACTS. 1 u 27 64 377 21.566 -0.595 0.405 associd=0 status=0419 leap_none, sync_uhf_radio, 1 event, leap_armed, version=ntpd 4.3.37@1.2483-o Thu Jun 11 00:12:07 UTC 2015 (1), processor=armv7l, system=Linux/3.18.14-v7+, leap=00, stratum=1, precision=-19, rootdelay=0.000, rootdisp=1.195, refid=GPS, reftime=d9246d02.38389bc3 Thu, Jun 11 2015 14:24:34.219, clock=d9246d0f.92141a9c Thu, Jun 11 2015 14:24:47.570, peer=6887, tc=4, mintc=3, offset=0.000163, frequency=-7.742, sys_jitter=0.001907, clk_jitter=0.002, clk_wander=0.000, tai=35, leapsec=20150701, expire=20151228 I have been careful to try and tweak the time1 offset to get a reasonable offset against the reference servers that show something less than 1ms over time. Shortly I'll have another GPS / M12+ up and running on another PI that I can use as a local reference along with other NTP servers over the internet. As you can see, the PPM frequency on this Pi is still showing -7.742. I assume that is if it was undisciplined? I have wondered about that. Matt On Thu, Jun 11, 2015 at 4:59 AM, Bob Camp kb...@n1k.org wrote: Hi Be careful of “single source” comparisons. When running with one reference, NTP is really measuring the reference against it’s self. It’s analogous to using a frequency counter to check it’s own reference. It *does* indeed check a number of things. It’s not really checking everything. An overly simple way to look at it: NTP is running a PLL, it “locks” a (software based) oscillator to the reference. With a single reference, it’s comparing the output of that PLL to the input to the PLL. The obvious way to get around this is to have multiple references coming into NTP. That’s easy if you want “less stable” references. It’s more money if you want to duplicate the GPS you have. After that it’s a matter of telling NTP which sources to discipline to and which to simply observe. Bob On Jun 11, 2015, at 12:05 AM, M. George m.matthew.geo...@gmail.com wrote: Here is what I have been able to do with a Motorola Oncore UT+ that I got from Bob Stewart awhile back. This is with a Raspberry PI 2 with a number of tweaks and a custom compiled kernel. Nothing too drastic... plus the current Dev version of NTP compile on the Raspberry PI. I'm getting better results letting ntpd discipline the clock over doing kernel discipline... not surprising because the algorithms in the ntpd code are much more sophisticated than the Linux kernel pps code... ntpd discipline provides much lower jitter in my experience. I'm rambling at this point, but the following samples are with a $30 antenna on the peak of my roof with LMR-400 solid conductor coax at a length of 70 ft. ~1.2 ns per foot delay based on the LMR-400 specs and nice low loss. I'm running the coax into an 8 way antenna splitter etc... nothing that anyone else hasn't done before here. The Raspberry PI 2 in this case is under load too as part of the www.pool.ntp.org pool: time.nc7j.com if you want to sync against it. As everyone else has mentioned, it's total overkill for NTP, but I'm just interested in tweaking and seeing how good I can get for fun more than anything else... i.e. time-nut obsession. I'm pretty happy with the following under load with www.pool.ntp.org set at 25MB of bandwidth which controls the traffic to my Pi 2 running NTP. It's taking a lot of traffic per second... the CPU for ntpd on the Pi is still low at around .5% to 1% of one core on the Pi 2. Here is a block of offsets from a loopstat file, and yes I cherry picked a nice block in the low nano seconds, but it rarely shows an offset into the micro seconds over time.. these are 16 second samples of the offsets... -0.00225 -0.00273 0.00094 0.00328 -0.00155 -0.00042 -0.00169 0.00323 0.00038 -0.00312 -0.00675 -0.00036 0.00213 -0.00193 0.5 -0.00503 -0.00154 -0.00179 -0.00321 0.00096 -0.00119 -0.00173 Not too shabby for a killer deal on an Oncore UT+ for $5 from Bob! I'm running the PPS out of the UT
Re: [time-nuts] PPS for NTP Server - How Close Is Good Enough?
Here is what I have been able to do with a Motorola Oncore UT+ that I got from Bob Stewart awhile back. This is with a Raspberry PI 2 with a number of tweaks and a custom compiled kernel. Nothing too drastic... plus the current Dev version of NTP compile on the Raspberry PI. I'm getting better results letting ntpd discipline the clock over doing kernel discipline... not surprising because the algorithms in the ntpd code are much more sophisticated than the Linux kernel pps code... ntpd discipline provides much lower jitter in my experience. I'm rambling at this point, but the following samples are with a $30 antenna on the peak of my roof with LMR-400 solid conductor coax at a length of 70 ft. ~1.2 ns per foot delay based on the LMR-400 specs and nice low loss. I'm running the coax into an 8 way antenna splitter etc... nothing that anyone else hasn't done before here. The Raspberry PI 2 in this case is under load too as part of the www.pool.ntp.org pool: time.nc7j.com if you want to sync against it. As everyone else has mentioned, it's total overkill for NTP, but I'm just interested in tweaking and seeing how good I can get for fun more than anything else... i.e. time-nut obsession. I'm pretty happy with the following under load with www.pool.ntp.org set at 25MB of bandwidth which controls the traffic to my Pi 2 running NTP. It's taking a lot of traffic per second... the CPU for ntpd on the Pi is still low at around .5% to 1% of one core on the Pi 2. Here is a block of offsets from a loopstat file, and yes I cherry picked a nice block in the low nano seconds, but it rarely shows an offset into the micro seconds over time.. these are 16 second samples of the offsets... -0.00225 -0.00273 0.00094 0.00328 -0.00155 -0.00042 -0.00169 0.00323 0.00038 -0.00312 -0.00675 -0.00036 0.00213 -0.00193 0.5 -0.00503 -0.00154 -0.00179 -0.00321 0.00096 -0.00119 -0.00173 Not too shabby for a killer deal on an Oncore UT+ for $5 from Bob! I'm running the PPS out of the UT+ through a level converter to get the ~3.3v PPS output... the serial output on the UT+ is also going through a level converter direct into the Pi 2. Using the oncore 127.127.30.0 ntpd driver and again, i'm not using hardpps kernel discipline. Anyway, users on the other end are at the mercy of the network latency and noise etc... but I'm serving up some pretty consistent time references, considering the Pi 2 was $35... and the only one that really cares is me... I'm trying to masquerade as a nerdy wana-b time-nut. I think NTP is a great place to start... if you want to toy around and tinker, plus provide a service to the rest of the Internet by joining www.pool.ntp.org and sharing your obsession with time. Max NG7M ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
[time-nuts] Z38XX Pre-Modified for Z3811A and Z3812A
I was playing around with my Lucent KS-24361 gadget boxes this evening and after toying and fiddling around with the Z38XX software I thought I would make the following available to other time-nuts: From the readme.txt file content I posted on the link below... where you can download a version of Z38XX that has been pre-modified to work with either the Z3811A or the Z3812A Keep reading if you want to try it / download it. Max NG7M (my slopped together readme.txt file) This is a modified version of Z38XX brought to you by the late Ulrich Bangert. (it's very clear that many time-nuts hold Ulrich in high regard and I wanted to make sure and mention his work here) His website is no longer available so I thought I would host the modified version on my web server: http://www.nc7j.com/downloads/NG7M/Time-Nuts/Z38XX-Modified-for-Lucent-Z3811A-Z3812A/ The zip file in this directory contains simple mod to the original version to allow it to talk to the Lucent KS-24361, HP/Symmetricom Z3809A, Z3810A, Z3811A, Z3812A GPSDO. The original exe is also included in the zip file. The mod is simple, via a hex editor (as reported by Götz Romahn) is to change the strings used for comparison at start up when Z38XX asks for the version. i.e. just modify the strings in the exe binary without disrupting the string table space. In a hex editor you search for Z3805 and replace it with Z3811 for the RFTG-u REF 1 box. Since I'm lazy and I really couldn't tell a difference if you use the Z3805 or the Z3815 command set in Z38XX, I also did a search and replace on Z3815 and changed it to Z3812. This allows you to use the same Z38XX version for either the Z3812A RFTG-u REF 0 box or the Z3811A RFTG-u REF 1 box. When connected to either J8-DIAGNOSTIC port. On another note, I couldn't get a PCI-Express 4 port serial card to work with the simple RS-422 to RS-232 cable hack. However, I had success with a good FTDI based USB serial adapter. In this case, it's a real FTDI chipset. Your mileage may vary as I have seen others scratch their head over problems getting the 422 / 232 cable hack to work. Anyway, I hope someone can find the 'pre hacked' version of Z38XX useful. Enjoy! de Max NG7M -- M. George ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
[time-nuts] Price drop LUCENT/SYMMETRICOM Z3810AS, KS24361
I thought I would pass this along, the auction site seller of the LUCENT/SYMMETRICOM Z3810AS, KS24361 GPSDO's dropped the price by $25.00 The shipping is the same. Pretty amazing for shinny new old stock in the original unopened box No affiliation with the seller here, but I'm a happy buyer even at the higher price... shaking my fist and cursing that they are $25 cheaper at the moment. ;) The auction ID is: 221777430088 Max NG7M -- M. George ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] Acquired a Symmetricom 5817A-05Q / Power connector Question
I added a couple more pictures of the connector after removing it from the housing I tired to get a better close up on the connector, but it's kind of blurry. After more research, it's an SMC F, female actually... I guess. I assumed male because of the pin inside the plastic / dielectric. http://www.nc7j.com/downloads/NG7M/Time-Nuts/5817A-05Q/ Anyway, I found some good pictures of a possible replacement on flea/Bay/eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-2-ITT-050-045--220-Conn-SMC-F-12-4GHz-50Ohm-Solder-Pot-ST-Pnl-Mnt-NEW-/271840415566?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0hash=item3f4af38f4e Look at the 4th picture. I'm kind of anal about fixing this kind of stuff, even if I end up going the 0 ohm jumper route and disable the power input to use power from the one of my GPS receivers. Thanks once again... I would have spent a lot more time on my own getting to the bottom of it. 73 de Max NG7M On Sat, May 9, 2015 at 12:25 PM, M. George m.matthew.geo...@gmail.com wrote: Thanks for all the replies everyone, very helpful as usual. the links that Oz posted seem to match up with the connector on my 5817a. http://www.amphenolrf.com/media/wysiwyg/SMC_4.jpg Its the male side of a SMC connector. I'll remove the broken one from the unit... take a few more pictures. All the comments on bypassing the power input option were very helpful too. i.e. the 05Q option. I figured that should be pretty easy where they sold this unit without the external power option. Again, thanks for the detailed responses gents! Max NG7M On Sat, May 9, 2015 at 11:32 AM, Magnus Danielson mag...@rubidium.dyndns.org wrote: That is supposed to be an SMB connector, that is what I have on mine. You can drop in a 0-ohm so that you can feed it and the antenna from Port 1. It might be a quicker solution for you. Cheers, Magnus On 05/09/2015 02:27 PM, Bob Camp wrote: Hi Only going by the pictures, that looks like the remains of a broken SMB connector. Bob On May 8, 2015, at 10:11 PM, M. George m.matthew.geo...@gmail.com wrote: I took delivery of a Symmetricom 5817A with the 05Q DC power option. The 8 port seems to be going a little less than the 4 ports... not sure on the reasoning there... however I picked it up on the usual auction site for ~125.00 shipped. I thought that was reasonable assuming it works. Anyway, I'm not too proud to admit that I'm not familiar with the power connector that apparently comes with the 05Q option. I have a link below to a couple of pictures. Maybe I missed something obvious when poking around on the internet for documentation, but I can't find anything that describes this connector. I assume it is stock? The +DC input pin/wire can be seen just inside the white tube... again, maybe this is obvious to real time-nuts! I'm working on that time-nut thing! You can browse to the pictures here: http://www.nc7j.com/downloads/NG7M/Time-Nuts/5817A-05Q/ Max NG7M -- M. George ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. -- M. George -- M. George ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] Acquired a Symmetricom 5817A-05Q / Power connector Question
Thanks for all the replies everyone, very helpful as usual. the links that Oz posted seem to match up with the connector on my 5817a. http://www.amphenolrf.com/media/wysiwyg/SMC_4.jpg Its the male side of a SMC connector. I'll remove the broken one from the unit... take a few more pictures. All the comments on bypassing the power input option were very helpful too. i.e. the 05Q option. I figured that should be pretty easy where they sold this unit without the external power option. Again, thanks for the detailed responses gents! Max NG7M On Sat, May 9, 2015 at 11:32 AM, Magnus Danielson mag...@rubidium.dyndns.org wrote: That is supposed to be an SMB connector, that is what I have on mine. You can drop in a 0-ohm so that you can feed it and the antenna from Port 1. It might be a quicker solution for you. Cheers, Magnus On 05/09/2015 02:27 PM, Bob Camp wrote: Hi Only going by the pictures, that looks like the remains of a broken SMB connector. Bob On May 8, 2015, at 10:11 PM, M. George m.matthew.geo...@gmail.com wrote: I took delivery of a Symmetricom 5817A with the 05Q DC power option. The 8 port seems to be going a little less than the 4 ports... not sure on the reasoning there... however I picked it up on the usual auction site for ~125.00 shipped. I thought that was reasonable assuming it works. Anyway, I'm not too proud to admit that I'm not familiar with the power connector that apparently comes with the 05Q option. I have a link below to a couple of pictures. Maybe I missed something obvious when poking around on the internet for documentation, but I can't find anything that describes this connector. I assume it is stock? The +DC input pin/wire can be seen just inside the white tube... again, maybe this is obvious to real time-nuts! I'm working on that time-nut thing! You can browse to the pictures here: http://www.nc7j.com/downloads/NG7M/Time-Nuts/5817A-05Q/ Max NG7M -- M. George ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there. -- M. George ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
[time-nuts] Acquired a Symmetricom 5817A-05Q / Power connector Question
I took delivery of a Symmetricom 5817A with the 05Q DC power option. The 8 port seems to be going a little less than the 4 ports... not sure on the reasoning there... however I picked it up on the usual auction site for ~125.00 shipped. I thought that was reasonable assuming it works. Anyway, I'm not too proud to admit that I'm not familiar with the power connector that apparently comes with the 05Q option. I have a link below to a couple of pictures. Maybe I missed something obvious when poking around on the internet for documentation, but I can't find anything that describes this connector. I assume it is stock? The +DC input pin/wire can be seen just inside the white tube... again, maybe this is obvious to real time-nuts! I'm working on that time-nut thing! You can browse to the pictures here: http://www.nc7j.com/downloads/NG7M/Time-Nuts/5817A-05Q/ Max NG7M -- M. George ___ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
Re: [time-nuts] First Post from Max NG7M
Hi Chris, thanks for the feedback... the cost is not a concern, is making the run to the peak of the roof worth it as far as the GPS reception / signal is concerned? Where I have a clean view south, is it worth it to run the coax up through the attic and to the peak of the roof so I get a totally clear 360 view to the north? If not, it's much easier to put my mast mount a few feet back on the eve of the roof. I have the LMR-400 collecting dust and the RG-213 sized N connectors... so I'll just use what I have handy. Max On Fri, Apr 24, 2015 at 8:39 PM, Chris Albertson albertson.ch...@gmail.com wrote: What is the problem withplaccing the GPS antenna all the way up on the roof ridge? If you can get an iron pipe and make short mast and place the GPS Antenna a few feet above the top of the roof. Run the pipe through the roof into the attic and run the coax cable inside the pipe. This way the coax is shielded from the weather and sun and you have a lifetime installation. Was the problem the cost of the cable or the loss in that cable? Don't worry about it. If cost is the problem then use the double shield Cable TV cable with the swagger-on F connectors. Yes it is 75 ohm but this is the cable Trimble recommends. If the run is very long and there is loss, get either a higher gain antenna or an in-line amplifier. You can work around cost and loss in that cable but you can't work around antenna location. You do NOT need low-loss LMR cable. RG59 works. On Fri, Apr 24, 2015 at 5:59 PM, M. George m.matthew.geo...@gmail.com wrote: Hello Time Nuts! This is my first post, but I have been lurking about for several weeks now... what started out as a project to find a stable time reference for a QS1R I have been running 24x7 for years on the NC7J CW Skimmer server has taking me down a whole to obsession after finding time nuts and GPSDO information. I now have a clean Trimble TBolt and the Lucent RFTG-u REF0/1 ready to roll... not to mention a couple of Raspberry Pi 2's with NTP servers on them setup and ready to accept a PPS signal from my new gizmos! I'm following the path that has been traversed many times before and I appreciate all the info that I have already gleaned from the time nuts list. Anyway, I didn't get the TBolt for free form China, but it' s a clean machine and seems to be settling down nice after running for a few days... Another reason for the post here is related to an installation of a GPS antenna on my roof. I have a $38 ePay bullet that I'm going to put up tomorrow and make a run of solid conductor LMR-400 to the antenna with a nice little J-Pole mount. Or potentially 2 runs for 2 GPS antennas. I'm lucky to have a southern exposure off the back of house with my ham shack in the raised basement right in the south west corner of the house so the new GPS antenna project works out well to keep the coax run short as possible to the GPS antenna. (see the pics attached or link at the bottom of my verbose post here) I'm shocked at how well a cheapie mushroom GPS antenna is doing close to the back of the house on a broom stick at the moment. Anyway, I know that to even think about being a time nut, I need to get a better location for the GPS antenna (two really eventually or a splitter). I have attached a picture of my house and you can pretty much see my options. Do I go up and simply put the antenna on the roof close to the edge above the rain gutter or do I take it all the way to the peak of the roof where you can see a WX station and dual band antenna? I realize I can calculate the loss in the extra coax, but I'm more concerned about the fact that I have a SteppIR BigIR vertical HF antenna in my back yard and I run power / 1KW+ at times on HF (I'm a CW nut!). The coax run to the top of the eve is going to be about 30-40 feet of coax roughly, if I take it all the way to the peak that's probably another 30 feet or so. 70-80 feet max if I go to the roof. Would a true time-nut need to have the bullet antenna at the peak of the root for a true clear view of the horizon even to the north 360 degrees? Will it bug me down the road that I didn't just run the bullet / coax up to the peak of the roof down the road, regardless of my concerns about RF from my HF operating potentially getting into the GPS antenna? (I'll probably put a voltage limiter on the GPS feed line). The antenna has a nice direct southern view off the eve. Thoughts for a first time poster and time-nut wanna be? The eve or the peak? Here is a link to the house pic and a few pictures of the TBolt gizmo that arrived from China this week: http://www.nc7j.com/downloads/NG7M/Time-Nuts/ I attached the pics too... is that okay on the time nut list? Picture attachments? Max NG7M -- M. George ___ time-nuts mailing list
